


Whispers

by Nikoleta



Category: Avatar (TV), Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, actually more on angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-28
Updated: 2014-04-28
Packaged: 2018-01-21 04:02:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1536797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nikoleta/pseuds/Nikoleta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Zuko didn't survive Azula's lightning strike. Katara has to live with what happened, but that isn't the reason why she cries herself to sleep at night. </p><p>"Sometimes the feeling of what could’ve been is stronger than what actually happened because the memory of perfection lasts longer." — Dante Basco</p>
            </blockquote>





	Whispers

**Author's Note:**

> It's 1am but I am in need of some Zutara Major Character Death Fics so I made my own. 
> 
> Inspired by:  
> \- The best Zutara fanvid ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0c50SqOIlo (I watched it so many times I decided to make a fic out of it. Sort of)  
> \- The only angsty Zutara song I will ever listen to: Whispers by Dave Baxter (where I got the title. Listen to it while you read. I rec it)  
> \- That quote by Dante Basco, voice actor of Zuko
> 
> Copyright infringement: I don't own Zuko or Katara or anything from the show.

" _NO!"_ He stepped in front of her without hesitation. 

He felt Azula's energy strike him hard as he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around himself, as if to embrace someone, to protect someone from it. He felt it travel at a different path than what he planned, and realized a moment too late that-

Pain coursed through his body, and he gritted his teeth.

Images of Azula torturing Katara filled his mind, and he panics, but he can't think of anything that he can do to stop his sister. Not when-

He felt his eyes close as his whole body convulsed. He couldn't remember falling flat into the ground. The world turned and his head hurt. His body was numb and he couldn't move, even as his mind tried to ignore the scorching pain coming from his chest. 

_Get up. Help them. Help her! Help..._

* * *

She rushed to his side and turned him over. Crouching on his side, she put water on his chest, and tried to feel for a heartbeat...

" _Zuko..."_

A tear slid down her cheek and joined the puddle of water in his chest.

* * *

 

_"I was the first person to trust you, remember? Back in Ba Sing Se. And you turned around and betrayed me."_

_"And I'm sorry."_

_He approached her cautiously, bending down a little to look her in the eye. She tried to look away, and he could her the ocean quiet down as she sighed and gave in. Without knowing, he had his hands on hers. Just lightly. She had her eyes closed, and she arched up a little._

[[fanart]](http://forstiron.tumblr.com/post/83822252910/nymre-sometimes-the-feeling-of-what-couldve)

_"Katara..."_

* * *

 

Of all the people, no one expected Katara to be affected by Zuko's death the most. The first few days, she tried to hide her pain. Tried to kiss it away, tried waterbending at night, destroying boulders with water, and tire her body until the sun came up. Then, she'd go home and drop on the bed, not even bothering to eat, thinking no one would notice.

* * *

 

_She couldn't help herself. Out of pity, or motherly instincts, or curiosity, she planted her right hand on his charred skin. And they stayed like that._

_She liked how he didn't flinch or turn away. He just closed his eyes and focused on the soft hand that stayed on his cheek - never shaking, never twitching. And she just stared at him, marveling at how he can stay still -_  calm -  _for_ _so long._

_She gripped the vial in her other hand tighter._

_"Do you really want me to... take it away?" Her fingers moved, feeling every inch of his burned side._

_Zuko stared at her with half-lidden eyes. "Why not?"_

_Katara shrugs, never keeping her eyes away from his._ _I like it_ _, she wanted to say._ _It shows me what fire does. That I should always fear it. But it also shows me that, despite being scarred and humiliated and hurt, despite what people say, what matters is standing up and proving them wrong._

_They end up being in a timeless place, where Zuko stopped fighting them, and for once, Katara healed the scarred prince, not with sad words or sacred vials, but with her own actions._

* * *

 

Little did she know that the whole Gaang can hear her cry herself to sleep at night sometimes, with a word sometimes escaping into a sob, "Zuko." They were worried that she'd end up like Azula. Bottled-up emotions do that to you, especially when you've been doing it every night, months after it happened.

But she wasn't repeating Zuko's death in her head, like they thought.

No, she was dreaming of a tide growing bigger and louder as she shouted her frustration, of an apology from an honest voice, of love and warmth from a pair of sad, yellow-orange eyes, of scars and wounds and a smile that made a whole face glow warm, even under the cold silver light of the moon. 

She was dreaming of feather-light touches of fingers and calloused palms barely touching hers, sparking her body, making her soul alight with fire. 

She wasn't thinking of what happened. Months of making herself physically and mentally busy, sparring with the world and thinking of what could have been made her forget. 

_Sometimes, the feeling of what could have been is stronger than what actually happened because the memory of perfection lasts longer._

She dreams of a familiar voice whispering close to her ear,

_"A _nd even though we didn’t end up together, you’ll never change the fact that you changed my life forever."__

And she cries because she knows it isn't true.

\--end--

**Author's Note:**

> It's a bit OOC (especially the italicized one) but there's a reason to that. Well, I hope I did a good job. What do you think?


End file.
